


Two Men and A Tavern

by SegaBarrett



Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Genre: Gen, Musical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-16
Updated: 2012-04-16
Packaged: 2017-11-03 18:59:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 10,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/384774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SegaBarrett/pseuds/SegaBarrett
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>LeFou's side of the whole story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Beauty and the Beast, and I make no money from this. 
> 
> A/N: I wrote this back in the day, about 6 years ago, when I was LeFou in my HS' production of B&tB. Based more on the musical than the movie. And some of these chapters are painfully short, I apologize :-)

I thank you for offering to bring my story to paper, and for the translation as well. I've never exceeded at writing, you see. In fact, I've never exceeded at anything, or even been proficient at anything. Back at school, I always got the lowest score on every test, which is why my parents didn't bother to send me past the fifth level. They just didn't really see the point, and neither did I.

It's quite a drag not being good at a single thing. My parents always acted like I would find something I was good at, but I never seemed to. Until one day.

Gaston. The town's strongest, most popular man. In other words, everything I was not. I was short, clumsy, by general consensus incredibly annoying, and not to mention stupid. I was also invisible. Then… Gaston.

You may ask why I put up with Gaston hitting me all the time. Don't be deceived, it was none of that "he hits me because he loves me" mantra that women in the village were probably spouting to themselves late at night. I held and hold no delusions (ahh, a word from Monsieur D'Arque) as to reason Gaston kept me around. I was easy to use as a lackey, a hanger-on, a sidekick, and I guess I gave him a boost of confidence when he needed it. So, it's not like it was any burst of emotion one way or another that caused Gaston to hit me the way he did. He just did. That was Gaston.

And to me, if Gaston did it, what was wrong with it, then? The rewards far overstepped the inconveniences. Now, people actually noticed me, since EVERYONE noticed Gaston.

Though, as far as the noticing goes, if you're thinking that GIRLS noticed me, that wasn't quite happening. Those three girls that always followed around Gaston with hearts in their eyes – Chanal, Dominique, and Anne - they would trample over me in a second to get to Gaston. Not that I could blame 'em. Wasn't that the way it should be? I mean, after all, Gaston is Gaston. WAS Gaston.

I speak from the future now, if you know what I mean. And I speak about the past. The past was glorious, truly and the… now so bleak. Without Gaston. Gaston always brought a smile to my face, and I always tried to bring a smile to his. Gaston.

Anyway, I was supposed to tell you my story, right? How Gaston and I got involved in this whole Beast mess. Well, it's a long story.


	2. Chapter 2

I remember when Gaston first showed me Belle. I had finished another round of praise for my idol, telling him about how fantastic his shot was. And it was amazing, really, he just popped that duck right out of the air, when I couldn't even SEE it! (This may be partially because I'm really short and Gaston is huge, but yeah.)

Smirking at Gaston's acknowledgment of my compliment, I added, "No beast alive stands a CHANCE against you… and no girl for that matter." At that point, I had in my mind the three Gaston fan-girls, but Gaston looked past them, almost across town at a different girl.

"It's true, LeFou… And I've got my sights set on THAT one." And he pointed to a girl who was about sixteen… Walking across town, with a book in hand. Now, this was quite difficult to contemplate. I recognized her from the village, though I didn't know her name. Her father was an inventor of some sort, and the laughingstock of the village. I did know that much, and I let Gaston know of my confusion. Though, of course, he quickly put me back in my place. Literally, he picked me up by my shirt and threw me down on the ground. Yes, I got the message, and I was not about to interfere in Gaston's love affair with this Belle.

But how was a girl who READS going to match Gaston? And if he married Belle, what in the world would happen to ME?

Of course, Operation Marry-Belle went straight in to action the moment we caught her alone. Or should I say Gaston caught her alone – I generally stood by supplying occasional commentary. Me being me, I managed to say the wrong thing. Belle mentioned her loony inventor father, and I couldn't stop myself.

"THAT CRAZY OLD FOOL!" I exclaimed, "He needs all the help he can get!" Gaston immediately burst out laughing, but Belle didn't see the humor.

"Don't talk about my father that way," she snapped. Gaston turned on me. He smacked me on the head.

"Yeah! Don't talk about her father that way!" Still burned by the reproach, I allowed him to lead me aside.

"Now, LeFou, I want you to go into the woods and get me the biggest, healthiest deer you can find." My feelings on this did not take long to materialize. And it's not like hunting was my forte, – is that the word? - anyhow. Most of the deer were taller than I was.

"NOT THE WOODS! ANYTHING BUT THE WOODS!" I sucked in a deep breath. "You know I HATE the woods." Dark, creeping, small creatures attacking me from all sides… Not to mention large, freaky looking bears and wolves and… I yelped, caught up in my own terror. Gaston seemed rather nonchalant. Then again, it wasn't HIM who had to go deal with the DARK SPOOKY WOODS CREATURES! "AHHH!"

"Just get me a deer for my wedding feast!" snapped Gaston, as I continued to protest. He picked me up and threw me about a fourth of a mile (if that's the right measurement. I barely know metric, so expecting me to know your stupid system is uncalled for), just about into a tree. Gaston was now nowhere to be seen. I groaned to myself. Now, how in the world was I supposed to get a deer when he didn't even leave me his gun? Not that I was much good with guns, anyway.

And, looking around me, I wasn't seeing any deer. All I was seeing was several different kinds of spiders, who all seemed to have LeFou on the menu.

Oh, great, I thought to myself, the things I do for Gaston. All so he can get this Belle and then forget all about me.

But I could feel sorry for myself later. Right now, I needed to find a deer.


	3. Chapter 3

"Here, deer, here deer," I called loudly, wondering how it was that someone caught a deer anyhow. I didn't have a gun, after all, so I looked around for the next best thing. Walking deeper into the forest, I saw what looked like it would work – a jagged rock sticking up from the dirt. I took my fingers and clawed to get a hold of it, pulling back and slamming into a tree. As I pulled myself up and brushed off my pants, I looked around again and tried to gage where I was. There was nothing happening there. I had no clue where I was, and I was starting to hear some very strange sounds. Such as… howls.

"Gaston," I squeaked aloud, "Save me…"

Wait. I was going to stand up. I was going to do this. I returned to the rock and yanked it out of the ground, successfully this time. I lifted it high above my head.

"Come along now, dearie," I called, cackling at my own joke. After a few moments, I began to walk left. I could hear the sound of deer hooves in the distance, and I jogged to reach the sound. I finally saw a flash of brown, and I knelt down to observe further. This is what Gaston always said he did. "Observe, then aim, then fire, then bask in glory." The deer moved in front of me, and I stood up slowly before using my arm to fire the rock at its head. The deer turned to me, looking more annoyed than anything else. It looked like it wanted revenge. I jumped up, shrieked, and hid behind another tree. As I crouched down, the back of my ankle touched something smooth. Suspecting some kind of creepy-crawler, I flipped around and saw a yellow scarf, made out of yarn or something like that. I reached out and plucked off the scarf, before thinking to myself. Now, I could use this to strangle the deer… But strangling is both for the strong and for people with more taste for blood than I had. Well, until I figured out something else to do with it, I'd wear it. It complimented my outfit nicely, as the Gaston always said about themselves.

As for now, the deer. It was still there, and it was still not dead, and I was still stuck in the forest, and I was still getting incredibly freaked out. I realized that if I was going to go with rocks, I needed a bigger one. And so I turned around and walked to the east edge of the forest, where there was a stream of some sort. Wedged in the water was another, bigger rock. I grabbed a hold of this one and promptly landed in the lake. Oh, joy.

After I plucked myself out, rock still in hand, I returned to the forest. I saw another deer, and I raised my hand, and brought down the rock. Then, I yelped. Sure, I'd seen hunting and the death of animals before, but I'd never DONE it. It was kind of freaking me out. But that was unimportant right now. And, I mean, it was for Gaston.

I picked up the deer and began lugging it across the forest. I began to hear howls again, and I started shivering. I think I'm going to cry, I thought to myself. I sure wish Gaston were here… He'd fix this, yes he would.

Suddenly I found myself surrounded by shadows. And in the shadows were… WOLVES!

"AHHHHH!" I screamed, attempting to navigate while the deer was still in hand. I was about to say "forget the deer, it's not like Belle wants to marry Gaston anyway", when I finally arrived back at the town. The three Gaston girls were the first to see me.

"Hey, LeFou," giggled Dominique, the tall, brunette girl, "Have a fun time?"

"I don't know about YOU too," snapped Anne, the shorter one with light brown hair, "But I can't bring myself to smile. Gaston's proposing to that HORRID Belle."

"But," said Chanal, the tallest of the girls, who had dark brown skin and long black hair, "He'd said he wouldn't forget US."

"Whatever you say," Anne moaned.

"Where IS Gaston?" I inquired.

"Belle's house," Chanal said. The three then immediately burst into tears and ran off. I shrugged and decided that if Gaston was already at Belle's house, there was no time to lose. I walked to my house, got changed and stuck the deer in my yard.

It was time to go find Gaston. Belle's house was across town, and it took me about ten minutes to arrive there. I jogged quickly, looking for any sight of Gaston. All I saw was Belle.

"Hey Belle!" I called, running up to her, "Have you seen Gaston?"

"You just missed him," she said in a voice that made it quite clear that her answer to whatever Gaston had said had been a resounding NO. She then turned to me again. "Hey, where did you get that scarf?"

Well, I was glad that she was paying SOME interest to me. I smirked.

"Oh, this?" I turned. "In the woods. Pretty nice, huh?"

"This belongs to my father!" she snapped, taking a step towards me and trying to grab the scarf. I glared at her. What did Gaston see in her, anyway? Raining on my parade.

"Yeah, well, finders-keepers," I replied.

"LeFou, I want you to think hard and tell me where you found that."

"No," I said. I had done enough thinking in the woods for the rest of my life.

"Think!"

I pondered for a moment.

"Somewhere in the woods?"

"HARDER!"

I leaned down and bonked myself on the head. Deer. Woods. Scary, spooky creatures. Wolves. Woods. CROSSROADS!

"Near the crossroads, okay!" I growled, reaching up to touch my head. "Ow."

"Then he's still out there! You have to take me back!"

This girl must have lost her mind.

"Not the woods again!" I declared. What, just because Gaston liked her I was going to be HER slave? She's not even strong or a good shot, and everyone thinks she's a weirdo. Like I was going to go back into Act One of Wolves Eat LeFou for HER.

"You have to take me back!"

"Not on your life!" I replied, walking away from her. I needed to find Gaston and figure out what we were going to do about the dead animal in my yard, now that the wedding was apparently off.


	4. Chapter 4

Gaston didn't have any suggestions regarding the deer. But he did have quite a good bit to say regarding Belle. In fact, all the way to the tavern he would not shut his mouth about Belle.

I was seemingly being used as a Belle proxy, because every infuriated cry of anger he intended for Belle was directed towards me. Gee, I thought annoyedly, why don't I just dress up like her and you can marry me? Since apparently I am her, anyway.

Finally, we arrived at the tavern, Gaston still in mid-rant. I decided that the only way to keep him calm was to impress him with how amazing he was.

And so I tilted my head back and began to trill a song about how Gaston was the most incredible man in the world. It wasn't terribly hard to come up with the words, the only difficulty was choosing what to put in the song, because Gaston was the best at SO MUCH.

By the end, Gaston had gotten into the act, and he had seemingly forgotten all about that silly Belle.

And then Belle's crazy inventor father had to burst in. Why was he at the tavern, anyway? I thought to myself irritably, doesn't he have some INVENTION to work on?

Then he started ranting and raving about how a beast had Belle locked in a dungeon. If only, I thought to myself, then PERHAPS I would not have to hear about her so often. When the cronies threw the crazy old man out, I thought we'd finally solved that problem. However, instead, Gaston turned to me with that crease in his chin he would get when he thought of something really smart.

"Crazy old Maurice, eh…" And then he explained a plan to me in my ear. It would work, of course. I mean, it was Gaston's plan. And no one plots like Gaston…


	5. Chapter 5

Unfortunately, part of this plan involved me having to deal with Monsieur D'Arque. D'Arque lived on the edge of town, near the west side of the woods and next to a building I had never entered and never had any desire to enter. It was known as the Maison des Lunes – in short, the house for crazies, the cracker barrel, the nuthouse… Whatever you wish to refer to it as.

Walking up to the Maison des Lunes, I could hear faint screams and laughter coming from the inside. A chill went through me. What if D'Arque thought I'd make a fine addition to his… enterprise? Gaston could save me from mortal danger, of course, but could he save me from something like this? What had I gotten myself INTO?

I walked up and knocked on the door to D'Arque's house.

I had seen D'Arque in town before – besides his job running an asylum, he also had a business as a hatseller in town. It was how he had gotten the money to build and upkeep the Maison in the first place… not like it looked like it had been upkept very well. The shingles were falling off, and paint was chipping. As for the section D'Arque lived in, that was only slightly more hospitable looking than the rest of it. I shook for a moment and sucked in my breath. I wished more than anything that Gaston were here beside me. Gaston, after all, was NEVER afraid.

I knocked on the door, and a few moments later it creaked open slightly. A tall, lean, dark-skinned man wearing an eye-patch took a step outside and glared down at me. I cowered.

"M…m…m'sieur Dee-ar-cay…"

"It's DARque! And what do you want!"

"I'm sorry, M…m… Monsieur D'Arque!"

"What do you want? Who are you? Do you need to be locked up?"

"My name is LeFou, and I come from Gaston. You know," I gave him a bit of a knowing wink, "Gaston."

"Your point?" he said in a bored way.

"Gaston would like to sp-sp-speak with you, about a possible… uh…" What was the word Gaston had used? "New member of your, uh, community. If you kn-know what I mean."

"It's the middle of the night, you fool. Can't he wait until morning?"

"Gaston said it must be done under, uh, cover of darkness. He'll make it very worth your while. You won't have to sell so many hats anymore."

"Well," said D'Arque with a sneer, "That would most certainly be enjoyable. I will come with you. Where does he want to meet at?"

"The t-tavern."

"Then we shall go to the tavern. But I must hear whatever you wish to tell me in the shortest period of time possible. Time is money, and I don't have nearly enough of either. Let us go. This had better be worth my time." He leaned in close to me and breathed on the side of my face. "Or a certain person may have to pay."

I leapt up and started back for the tavern. One more minute with D'Arque would have been far more than I could bear.


	6. Chapter 6

As I walked back, I thought about Belle. Belle – that's the girl he chose. Those soft brown eyes and hickory-black hair were engaging, that was true. But… of all the girls, why did Gaston have to choose the one that was not interested in him?

But I knew the answer. Gaston was a hunter. He enjoyed the chase, enjoyed cornering the animal and showing it off. If Belle would marry him, the next round at the tavern would be "Look at me – I could even convince that bizarre Belle girl to marry me… Is there nothing I cannot do?"

But what, I wanted to know, would come after the cheering and celebration? What would Gaston do with a wife around? He seemed too young to be sitting around creating miniatures versions of himself, tossing them diminutive rifles and teaching them how to shoot.

Or was I just jealous of Gaston's interest in Belle? Was I thinking that if Gaston and Belle had a family, there would be no place for me? After all, I was Gaston's protégé, but not his blood kin, obviously. Gaston had taught ME. Gaston had showed ME what to do. I didn't want to be tossed into the corner in favor of perfect little Belle and her squabbling brats. It was enough to make me sick.

But Gaston wouldn't forget me… Would he? It was inconceivable that a man like him would waste his time on women like her. If he wanted a wife, he should have just chosen one! Pick a name out of a hat! Instead of this endless plotting and confusion and sending me out to pick up dredges like D'Arque!

But it would be worth it in the end… Wouldn't it?

I spoke quietly to D'Arque.

"We're almost at the tavern."

"At last," he said simply. I quickened my step, the town seeming so different at such a late hour of night. No baker was out selling his bread, there was no running fountain with small children crowding around it, no town-women gossiped while exchanging flowers… the town seemed dead and cold, with an eerie sense of foreboding. I couldn't put my finger on it, but something did not seem right.

I could feel something grip me, and it was something I'd been thinking ever since a few days beforehand, when I killed the deer. It was like a… loss of innocence of sorts. Sure, I'd always followed Gaston around, but this time, this plan, we had the possibility that we were doing something truly cruel and evil.

But we were doing it anyway, and acting as if it were nothing. And I couldn't feel my heart tell me to back out. I was in too deep to claw my way back out. Gaston's interests had become irrevocably intertwined with mine. He was all I had.

We arrived at the tavern, in front of which Gaston was waiting, an annoyed look on his face. I opened the door and he and D'Arque stepped inside. We made our way to a table on the edge of the nearly deserted tavern – the only patrons left were a few of the old cronies, who were drinking the night away and weren't paying any attention to us.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Monsieur D'Arque," Gaston said. I looked into his determined blue eyes, and I felt a hand clutch my gut. This was happening.

"I don't usually leave the asylum in the middle of the night," D'Arque intoned, "But this fellow said you'd make it worth my while."

Gaston and I explained the situation with Belle, and explained to D'Arque our plot – threaten to lock Maurice up if Belle refused to marry him.

"A bit of a 'shotgun wedding', if I do say so myself," Gaston whispered to me. I smirked.

D'Arque agreed. The money was on the table, after all.

And now all we had to do was wait for Belle and her father to cross paths with us yet again. Which, we deduced, should not take terribly long.


	7. Chapter 7

Well, we were wrong. We didn't see Belle again for over a week, and we didn't see Maurice, either. We figured they were just inside, fiddling with their pastimes.

Eventually, however, I walked by and saw Belle and Maurice in front of Belle's house, in mid-conversation. I darted over to the tavern and gathered together Monsieur D'Arque and a mob. Gaston was to hide among us, waiting for the right moment.

It was a perfect plot, of course. And it SHOULD have worked perfectly. But, when Gaston approached Belle, that ungrateful… she slapped him! He was about to slap her back, and in my opinion perhaps he really should have, (but why would Gaston hit a woman? Gaston was perfect, he would never do that, it was just a bluff… Oh, I don't know!) but we all looked at him and he stopped, hand in mid-air.

"Take the old man!" he exclaimed, letting his arm slink at his side. D'Arque and the other stronger members of the mob moved forward.

"My father's not crazy!" Belle yelled, still flinching slightly from her near-miss of Gaston's punch. "I can prove it."

"I'd like to see her do that," I mumbled to D'Arque.

Then, to my astonishment, she pulled out a mirror. What, I thought to myself, is she going to tidy herself up to marry Gaston at last?

But instead, she looked straight in the mirror and commanded, "SHOW ME THE BEAST!"

She's lost her mind, too, I thought, maybe the Maison des Lunes needs TWO new inmates.

But on the mirror appeared a reflection of someone or something definitely NOT among us – a huge beast, with white fangs that looked as sharp as a sword. I jumped in the air and attached myself to the arm of D'Arque, who promptly dropped me with a look of disgust.

As I pushed myself up, still shaking, I saw Gaston and Belle arguing. Belle was telling Gaston that that beast was actually a kind, sweet creature.

Yeah, right.

And then she called GASTON a monster. I saw his eyes swell up in a mix of anger and pain, and I saw him snatch the mirror out of Belle's hand and raise it in the air.

"She's as crazy as the old man! She says this creature is her FRIEND! Well, I've hunted wild beasts and I've seen what they can do!"

Chanal, Dominique, and Anne looked at each other, as if wishing they hadn't decided to follow Gaston around on this particular day. Anne looked like she was about to faint. The other townspeople were muttering fearfully amongst themselves, as Gaston described the castle to them. Now, he'd never SEEN this castle, of course, but from the picture in the mirror and some obvious deducing regarding Maurice's delusional ramblings – or what we THOUGHT had been delusional ramblings – about the woods, he and I both knew where the castle was. D'Arque and I took a few steps forward and stood behind Gaston. Soon, the entire mob had lined up behind us, and we were all certain of what must happened.

"We'll kill the beast!" Gaston declared, ignoring Belle's promises to stop him. Soon, we found our way to the road through the woods… Belle was nowhere in sight. No fear of wolves or bugs or even spiders could hold us back now. Nothing would stop us. The beast would die, and Gaston would be everyone's hero yet again. Forget Belle, if that crazy girl wanted to run around trying to save a monstrous, flesh-devouring creature, let her. And now I didn't have to worry about her marrying Gaston. Maybe, just maybe, he would reconsider if she begged him to marry her.

Just maybe.

But as for now… we had a menace to the village to confront.


	8. Chapter 8

We didn't talk on the way to the castle, just sang our song and rallied together, like warriors. When we finally got to the castle, a group of villagers cut down a tree to use as a battering ram in order to knock the castle door. The door yielded on the fourth ram. We were then inside.

And I didn't like the place from the get-go. If the woods was freaky, this was even freakier, because it was MAN-MADE freaky. It wasn't just freaky, it had specifically been designed to BE freaky. Which must mean that a FREAKY PERSON lived here. But then again… wouldn't you HAVE to be a freaky person to build a castle for a huge beast? I mean, of all the clients the people who build castles have, I'm sure most of them aren't beasts. He probably had to shop around.

What if the person who built this was some kind of evil inventor who manipulated a lion into being a… a really big thing that kind of looked like a lion mixed with a bear! What if they suddenly got a lion and a bear to do… uh, what lions and bears could have done with each other? And they had a mutant child? That could live in a castle? And kidnap Belle? I mean, what would a beast want with Belle, anyway?

…Ew. I had just thought of a possibility, and I didn't want to wrap my mind around THAT for any long period of time.

I decided to keep my mind on following Gaston.

"This place gives me the creeps," I declared.

"Shh," Gaston replied, putting a finger to his lips in annoyance.

"Well, it does," I said defensively.

"Shut up!"

"Gaston," I continued, knowing I was probably going to get hit for this one, but wanting to let my feelings be known. "I wanna go home." Instead of hitting me or yelling at me again, he completely ignored me and quickened his step. After a few moments, he had turned a corridor I hadn't and I was all alone.

"Hello?" I squeaked. I kept wandering around, but I didn't SEE anything. I HEARD a lot of really STRANGE things, though.

Squeaking and yelping and hitting and breaking and kicking.

What had I gotten myself into? I wanted nothing better than to jump back behind Gaston, who I knew could protect me. But he'd left me behind. I needed him, and he'd left me behind.

How could he do this to me?

But maybe, he didn't even realize it. In his quest to find this beast, he'd momentarily left me behind. By accident.

And then I walked into a huge, walking teapot.

I am fully and completely serious.

Oh boy, I thought to myself, I think there's something wrong with the village water. Someone should really look into that.

"You look like you could use a nice cup of tea," said the teapot. Oh, great, now it was TALKING to me, too. Where was D'Arque? It's his asylum for me.

Actually, the Maison des Lunes wasn't looking too bad right now. At least it would be a step up from this freaky castle. But, tea wasn't sounding too bad, either.

"Tea?" I asked, "Oh, thank you."

"Here ya go!" said a talking teacup… It was an entire dining FLOCK! But that thought had barely settled in my mind when the teacup spit a steam of tea in my eyes.

"Take that you scurvy scum!" said the teapot.

Okay, so it was a talking, walking, huge, MOCKING teapot. Which then proceeded to smack me in the shoulder with its spout.

What a lovely day.

I began to stumble around aimlessly, calling out, "Hey, where'd everybody go?" I backed into what I supposed was a closet of some sort.

Oh, it was a closet, all right.

A singing closet. Holding my ears, I ran off in the opposite direction as fast as I could. I found a deserted fireplace and slipped myself inside, hiding my head with my hands. I would be safe here… so long as no one decided they needed warming up.

"Gaston?" I cried, "Where ARE you?"


	9. Chapter 9

I was still clapped in the fireplace when Dominique found me. It seemed bizarre and unnatural to see her apart from her two best friends. There was a tear running down her face, and with one finger she held her hair out of her eyes, as if she was forcing herself not to hide from what had happened. Looking her over again, I could see a red mark on her ankle, that looked like a cross between a bite and a burn.

"Is it over?" I asked.

"Over?" she said in a hysterical voice. "Over? Oh, yes, it's over… Over… Heh… You need to come with me. Keep quiet, I don't know what someone might do."

"What do you mean, 'someone'?" I asked, but in this castle I was ready to believe anything.

"I mean… THEM… you saw them. Don't tell me you hid the entire battle, LeFou. You saw who… WHAT we were fighting."

"Yeah, I did," I replied, "I got attacked by a damned teapot."

"Cheesegrater," Dominique replied dryly, gesturing to her ankle.

"Where are Chanal and Anne?" I didn't ask about Gaston. After all, it's not like anything was going to happen to HIM. "Are they all right?"

"Oh, I think they're fine," she replied. When we were going around the castle, Chanal and I decided we were going to go look for Gaston, while Anne was going to try her hand at getting rid of a particularly troublesome clock. In other words," she said, grinning, "she was going to try and make time fly."

"Did she get it?"

"Uh… Not exactly. I saw the clock running after her yelling, 'Tally ho!', but then I saw her make it out the door okay."

"What about Chanal?"

"Chanal… Chanal got into a fist-fight with a spatula."

"I see. Where's Gaston, by the way?"

Dominque's happy look vanished instantly.

"Come with me," is all she could say, as her eyes began to tear up again. "Quickly." She led me down the steps and outside the castle, until we got to the courtyard which lay just beneath a large tower.

And there I saw… I saw Gaston. Lying crumpled in a heap at the edge of the courtyard. There was blood lying all around him, and I couldn't believe my eyes.

"Is he…?" I asked Dominique quietly.

"He's still…" she whispered. "Let's go to him." She walked over to Gaston and knelt next to his head. "Gaston, it's me. Dominique. I brought LeFou."

I knelt beside her and looked at Gaston. The vibrant, angry, self-conceited look normally in his eyes was gone, and all that was left was a look of exhaustion. But… Dominique was right. He was still alive. Just barely.

"Gaston," I whispered.

Gaston slowly turned his head, as if he was too drained to put in the effort.

"Did I get him?" he choked out, before spitting out a clump of blood. I didn't really have any clue what he was talking about, but I tried to smile. I remembered back when I used to hunt with him.

"Get him?" I said in a fake cheery voice. "Of course! You… you didn't miss a shot!"

"I knew it," he said, wheezing again one last time before another spat of blood flew across the courtyard. "I knew…"

And then he fell silent.

"Gaston… Gaston, you're gonna… Gaston come on, wake up!" I cried, pushing him with my palm. "You've gotta wake up, we're gonna go back to the town. We've got to go back. It was a mistake to come here. It was a mistake… all of this was a mistake. Can we go back and not… not talk about this anymore? Come on, Gaston… Let's go…" My voice was getting frantic, as I shoved on him once again. My hand reached up to Gaston's chest, and when I brought it in front of my eyes, it was streaked with blood. "Who did this to you? Come on, Gaston, tell me, please…" I turned to Dominique, who was sobbing silently.

"Gaston," she said in a voice depleted of her normal girly love for him, "Come on, Gaston. Forget about Belle… Forget about her. Let's go back." But as she looked down, and then into my eyes, we both knew there was no hope. "LeFou, do you think…?" she asked. "Do you think we can carry him back to the town?"

"No," I replied, my voice catching in my throat, "Without Gaston, we can't do ANYTHING."


	10. Chapter 10

And so we buried Gaston right there, in a plot dug by Dominique and I. We used two of Gaston's knives as makeshift shovels. I had wanted to go back and get Chanal and Anne, as well as some of Gaston's cronies and maybe D'Arque, to help, but Dominique was terrified that while we returned to the village, Gaston could awake again and die alone, or that the Beast would come along and destroy the body. I suggested that I could go back and Dominique could stay with Gaston, but she shook her head.

"No… We can't risk waiting. We need to bury him now."

And so we did. We didn't risk having a marker. I mean, after all I really didn't know how to write and Dominique was too distraught to remember Gaston's date of birth, but most of all we were afraid of retribution by whatever had killed Gaston. After we finally managed to dig the hole, and get Gaston in the hole, Dominique stood up.

"We should say a few words," she stated. "I don't know any quotes to give you for your funeral, Gaston." She paused for a moment before adding bitterly, "I guess your Belle could do that better for you." Another tear rolled down her eye and she wiped at it with the edge of her dress. "But I don't think, Gaston… I don't think you would have wanted that. I think you would have wanted someone to say what I'm about to say. Gaston, you were the most beautiful man ever. You were so tall, with such great dark hair, and you could pick up such large things. Which was incredibly amazing. I am sure if Chanal and Anne were here, they would agree with me. I remember, we used to argue over you. I would say, 'Gaston will fall in love with ME,' and Anne would go, 'NO. He loves ME,' and then Chanal would say, 'Who's better suited to a tall, dark, sexy man than a tall, dark beautiful woman?'" Dominique seemed to realize she was getting off-track. "Anyway, what I wanted to say was… We can't forget you, Gaston. We… we love you. Still. And always." She began crying, and through her loud sobs she blurted, "We'll…still…have…our…little…ren…DEZ…vous. Always."

And then it was my turn.

"Gaston… uh… you were a hunter. Always. And you hunted. And you were amazing. Just like Dominique said. Uh, you were… Gaston. Yes, I mean… You…" I thought back to that day in the bar when I'd cheered him up. It seemed like so long ago. "Perfect. A pure paragon. Of everything." A pause. "That's all I can say."

We dropped the dirt over him and, after another awkward pause, we began the long walk back to the village.


	11. Chapter 11

When we arrived back at the village, it was still the middle of the night. And the town didn't just seem still and dead, but it seemed like someone had reached up and ripped out its heart.

And someone had.

The only question was who.

Dominique moved to put her arms around me as we walked towards my house. We passed by the tavern. I looked down at the ground, realizing I would never be able to look at that building ever again without wanting to collapse on the ground.

"Now, LeFou," Dominique said, "I know how you feel. But you can't… WE can't give up."

"But… but there's nothing to live for anymore," I said, allowing myself to crumple and find myself sitting in the dust.

"Yes, there is," she replied. "There is."

"And what is that?"

"Revenge."

"Revenge?"

"Someone killed Gaston. And I'm sure that BELLE was involved. She never liked Gaston." Thinking for a moment, she rephrased, "She never APPRECIATED Gaston."

"But would that… would she kill him?"

"I don't know, LeFou. I just don't know. Come on, let's find Chanal and Anne." She reached down and plucked me up by the elbow. "A bit like old times, isn't it?" she said with a sad smile.

"I wish we could just turn back the clock," I said. I bitterly remembered what Dominique had said about an attacking clock, and decided I meant the phrase literally. "Then Gaston would be back. We wouldn't have to be doing this right now." Dominique simply nodded. We walked in silence to the row of houses where Dominique lived, next to Chanal and Anne. Dominique approached the first house and knocked on the door.

A few moments later, the door opened and the tall, ebony-skinned beauty that was Chanal groggily poked her head at the two of us.

"What's go'n on?" she mumbled.

"Chanal," whispered Dominique, "I need to tell you something. But there's no way I want to say this twice. Let's go get Anne." Shrugging, Chanal closed her door and they retrieved Anne from her house as well.

"What happened to YOU, Domi?" inquired Anne, who wasn't looking too great herself. Dominique adjusted her dress and took a deep breath.

"At the castle. I don't know exactly what happened. I was looking for Gaston. I'd lost you two, so I walked outside to see if I could find you guys as well. And, I… I… heard a scream and then this THUMP sound coming down from the top of this tower. I figured it was one of those objects getting shown what for by Gaston… but instead… instead, it WAS Gaston."

"Wait," Chanal interrupted, twirling a strand of her thick onyx hair, "What do you mean it was Gaston? Like, he jumped out of the tower and landed on his feet? Mmm!"

"That sounds so sexy," Anne interjected, "I can't believe it. Isn't that just like Gaston! Where is he, anyway?"

"Yeah! We need to tell him how amazing he was, and how sorry we are that we missed it!"

"I need to tell him FIRST!"

"No, me!"

"No, me!"

"You guys," Dominique said flatly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Anne. "Keep telling it! Then what did Gaston do?"

"Did he flex his muscles?" asked Chanal.

"Kill that beast with his bare hands?"

"And what was up with the candle that kept trying to hit on me?"

"Has Gaston finally given up on Belle?"

"STOP IT!" snapped Dominique. "Gaston… Gaston didn't JUMP from the tower."

"Then what did he DO?" Chanal shot back.

"Gaston… Gaston fell."

"What do you mean?" asked Anne.

Not looking at either of them, Dominique said dispassionately, "Gaston fell. Far. And hard. Gaston… about fifteen minutes later Gaston died."

"…This has to be a joke," Anne said, "Gaston can't be DEAD. I just SAW him."

"He was FINE," said Chanal, "He wasn't DEAD. He was OKAY. He was ALIVE. And he's Gaston."

"He WAS Gaston," I squeaked. Chanal reached forward and slapped me across the face.

"You fool. You can't stand here and tell me Gaston is dead. I won't believe it." She began to walk back into her house.

"Believe what you want," Dominique said, "But Gaston was murdered and I, for one, plan to get revenge for him." Chanal stopped in her tracks.

"I will," she said.

"I will too," Anne chimed in.

"But we can't do it alone," I said.

"But I think the rest of the village just wants to forget about what just happened," Dominique admitted.

"Not the entire town," I said, snapping my fingers. "I have an idea."


	12. Chapter 12

We waited until the early morning to make our visit to the Maison des Lunes. We knew we had to get to D'Arque before he went out to his hat-shop. There was no way we could get him to join us if he became influenced by the rest of the town. Living so far off from the city limits, D'Arque was the one person who we figured had not been affected by the town's malaise regarding Gaston.

On the way, we attempted to draw other townspeople into our plan, but they acted as if Gaston had never existed, or if he at least had never died.

"Gaston?" the baker replied, "What's there to say?"

"Gaston can take care of himself," the bookseller informed us. Frustrated that he apparently hadn't heard the news, Chanal opened her mouth to explain, but Dominique put a hand on her shoulder.

"Gaston needs us," Dominique said quietly.

"I don't believe Gaston needs anyone," the bookseller said flippantly.

Anne shook her head and motioned for us to move out of the bookshop. As we walked out, she mumbled, "He's one of Belle's, anyway."

Other people just refused to talk to us when they saw us.

"So I guess it'll just be us," said Chanal, "I guess Gaston isn't everyone's favorite guy anymore."

"Well," I said angrily, "He's still ours!"

"Let's go see D'Arque," said Dominique resolutely. We took the long walk up to D'Arque's house. For about half of the march, we were silent.

Then, suddenly, Dominique leaned back her head and sang, "Who plays darts like Gaston?"

"Who breaks hearts like Gaston?" chimed in Anne.

"Who's much more than the sum of his parts…" I sang.

"Why, Gaston!" we all exclaimed, laughing.

"Oh, he was amazing," said Chanal, "If only he were still here!"

Sighing, we continued to walk in silence until we got to D'Arque's. I reluctantly pounded my fist on his door. There did not seem to be any maniacal laughter coming from there at this time, a fact for which I was incredibly grateful. The door opened, and the eye-patch wearing man did not look very pleased to see me at all.

"What do you want?" he snapped. I made a sound that resemble a cross between a squeak and a yowl and jumped out of his way. "Well, come on, get on with it."

"We want you… you to… help us…av-av…"

"Avenge," supplied Dominique.

"Avenge Gaston's murder," I said. D'Arque reached out with his hand and grabbed my collar. He picked me up and held me at his eye-level.

"The next time you come to my asylum, you will not leave." He dropped me and I landed with a SMACK on the ground.

"Monsieur D'Arque," said Dominique, "Have a heart." He rolled his eyes… or his eye, rather. "After all, Belle is still in that castle. As much as I can't stand the girl, what if she's been kidnapped? Wouldn't Gaston want us to save the woman he…" she trailed off before added bitterly, "Loved." When D'Arque's expression remained unchanged, she switched tactics. "Where did you come from, anyway? How did you get here?" I guess Dominique meant this to be gentle coaxing, but D'Arque looked infuriated.

"I don't see where you get the nerve, you imbeciles! The last time I followed you on one of your little adventures, I nearly lost my remaining eye! And you have the gall to stand here and go, 'Monsieur, where did you come from?' Do you even know what you're saying? You're tromping on ground you shouldn't even have the nerve to sight!" Anne burst into tears.

"Tromping? I don't even know what that word means!" she exclaimed. I was about to shrug my shoulders in agreement, but then I thought back. I felt like I was in a trance.

I slowly, flatly recited, "Then goes tromping around wearing boots like Gaston."

The girls exchanged looks and promptly burst into hysterical sobbing. D'Arque looked overwhelmed.

"Okay, okay," he said angrily, "If you're going to sob all day long on my doorstep, I might as well do this thing for you. Now, if we're going to do it, we need to do it right. Whatever happened to that mirror that Gaston had?"

My eyes went wide. Had we buried it with him?

"We can't dig Gaston up," I blubbered, "That would be horrible."

"Uh, LeFou," Dominique said, "I got it when I first found him." She reached into the top section of her dress as D'Arque's and my eyes went wide. She pulled out the mirror and snapped, "What? I like to keep something that belonged to Gaston close to me."

"Apparently," mumbled D'Arque.

"What should we ask it?" asked Chanal as we all gathered around the mirror. My first instinct was to exclaim, "Show me Gaston!", but I was terrified I would be greeted by a picture of worms eating him or him burning in hellfire or something like that. Instead, I cleared my throat.

"Show me Belle!" I commanded. The mirror swirled, and we saw Belle indeed. She was dressed in an extravagant dress…

"A wedding dress!" Anne exclaimed accusingly, "That slut!"

"You girls should look who is talking," D'Arque said.

"Hey!" snapped Chanal, "We're not sluts. We're all devoted to one man. And that's Gaston. Watch your mouth."

"I can't believe this," I sputtered, "How is Belle standing there, getting married the day after Gaston was murdered?"

"There's only one answer to that," said Chanal. "Belle is a murderer."


	13. Chapter 13

And so we marched to the castle, with the magic mirror and one of Gaston's guns in hand. It was obviously a suicide mission, and we all knew it. But it had to be done.

"Monsieur D'Arque," I said, "If we get out of this…" I didn't add "alive", although I wanted to. "Could you train me to work for you?"

"At the asylum or the hatshop?" he inquired.

"Either one I guess. I never really had a job, and I guess I really do need one. One of these days I'm going to have to do something, since I can't rely on Gaston anymore."

"Sure you can be my protégé," D'Arque replied, "If you're up to it, that is."

"I am."

We were silent the rest of the trip. When we arrived at the front of the castle, we were surprised to discover the door was unlocked and we didn't have to use anything to break down the door. We could hear faint sounds of activity from within the castle. I grabbed Dominique's hand, and she grabbed Chanal's in turn. Chanal grabbed Anne's, and Anne went to grab D'Arque's, but he shot her a look and she turned away in a huff. We continued walking inside the castle until we got to a large empty room, decorated for some event. And as I realized I knew what that event was, I felt my stomach heat up in a swell of anger.

How could Belle DO this? Didn't she have any inkling of how raw Gaston's death still was for us? Wasn't it like that for her… at all? I mean, she'd known him ever since she moved into town, which wasn't so long ago. She should have been wearing a black dress, not a white one! I wanted to throttle her and scream in her face!

"Hello!" I called out, "Is anyone home?"

A tall, chocolate-skinned man holding a candle in hand made his way down the hall. He took a quick look at me and seemed to recognize me, although I didn't recognize him.

"Welcome, welcome," he said, "Are you here for the wedding?"

"We're here to avenge Gaston's death," snapped Dominique, "I want to see the person responsible and I want to see them NOW!"

"But, chére, I do not know anyone named Gaston. I believe you should speak to the master and mistress of this castle, they will most likely know better than I."

"Lumiere!" called a female voice that I recognized immediately.

"And here she is!" Lumiere announced with a smile as Belle walked up, still dressed in the wedding dress I'd seen her don in the mirror. "Speak of the devil! I was just telling these two men and these lovely ladies that they should speak to you."

"Indeed they should," Belle replied, her eyes turning icy, "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to avenge Gaston's death," Dominique repeated, "You murderer."

"I didn't murder Gaston!" Belle snapped, "He fell, after trying to kill my husband…fiancée…the Prince!"

"Wait," I said, "Let me get this straight. You mean to tell us that that huge, ugly-looking beast turned into a Prince."

"That is exactly what happened," Belle replied evenly.

"Mademoiselle," said D'Arque, "Perhaps you should accompany me back to the…"

"Belle! What's going on?" A man dressed in some kind of royal-looking garb ran up, followed by a blonde-haired, older woman.

"Come back here! Oh, don't you know it's bad luck to see the bride before your wedding!" the woman cried.

"It's all right, Mrs. Potts," said the man. "What are YOU all doing here?" he snapped at us.

"Who are YOU?" Chanal snapped.

"The Prince," he replied hotly.

"The one that used to be a beast?" asked Dominique.

"…Yes."

The three girls observed him for a moment.

"Ew," said Anne.

"You were better-looking as a beast," said Dominique.

"Agreed," Chanal chimed in.

"Look, can't you all just leave?" Belle pleaded.

"So you can marry this guy right after a man who loved you was murdered?" Dominique snapped, with obvious pain in her eyes.

"Gaston wasn't murdered. Gaston fell," Belle repeated.

"Gaston. Doesn't. Fall," Anne snapped, raising her hand in a fist.

"How could you get married the day after Gaston died?" Chanal snapped.

"You strumpet!" Dominique declared.

"Whore!"

"Two-timer!"

"Murderer!" I said my accusation loudest of all.

"Listen," snapped the Prince, pointing to me, "If you don't remove all your friends from the premise right now, I will pick you up and MOVE YOU off the premise!" He reached forward to grab my collar, but Dominique intervened, grabbing his arm.

"You!" she spat, "Don't you dare put your hands on LeFou. The only person who was allowed to do that was Gaston. And, well, we know how you took care of that. So don't you DARE put your hands on or threaten him… because he's my friend. And we're not moving."

I'm not sure who was more shocked at Dominique's pronouncement, the Prince or me. I'd never had anyone stick up for me before, let alone call me their friend. I remembered walking by the village, overhearing a conversation between two young girls.

"It's a good thing LeFou has Gaston," one of them said, "Or else he wouldn't have any friends at all." The other one laughed cruelly.

"LeFou is NOT Gaston's FRIEND. He's his SIDEKICK. Hah. LeFou? Friends…"

It seemed that all that was changing now. I looked over at Dominique, who was still standing steadfast in front of the Prince.

"I'm not moving," she said again, "I want answers."


	14. Chapter 14

"Damn you," Dominique said, "And damn your servants."

"Oh, I don't know," said Anne, as Lumiere walked behind her and began to rub her shoulders, "This one doesn't seem too bad." She giggled.

"He is also," snapped a voice, "Very taken." In walked a maid with long brown hair and a very angry look on her face. "I remember YOU," she continued, "That girl who was in the castle the night that…" She looked around and saw warning glances from the others. "Uh, the night that you came to the castle."

"That's beside the point!" cried Dominique, "The point is, we want answers. What REALLY happened to Gaston? Who killed him?" Belle sighed.

"Gaston died by accident," she said quietly.

"Then why didn't you check to see if he was still alive?" Dominique raged, "He was lying there for like fifteen minutes, just LYING there, while I got LeFou! If I hadn't have had that mirror to show me where LeFou was, I would have been wandering around forever while Gaston died alone! But did you care? No! You'd rather live happily ever after with your PRINCE and your CARRIAGE and your ENCHANTED castle with goddamned evil objects that attack defenseless beautiful women!"

"Wait, did someone say beautiful women?" quipped Lumiere. Dominique rolled her eyes.

"Where ARE those objects, anyway?" she continued, "I'd like to grate that cheesegrater right back!" One of the cooks looked rather terrified at this and scurried away.

"Uh, they're not here," stammered Lumiere, "And I suggest that you decide right now – stay for the wedding or leave!"

"We're not leaving," snapped Dominique, "Until we get answers about Gaston."

"I've TOLD you what happened to Gaston," Belle said angrily.

"And now," the Prince furiously declared, "I will have you escorted out. Jacques? Jean-Claude?" Two men appeared in the doorway. "Escort all of these people out."

"I won't leave!" I spoke up, "I'm willing to shoot." I lifted Gaston's gun up shakily and used both my hands to support it. "One or the both of you are murderers! And I'll get revenge for Gast…" I was cut off as one of the two men snatched the rifle from my hand. Unarmed and in a situation where I didn't feel I could move any way, I looked up at the row of servants and burst into tears. "Gaston!" I wailed. Dominique looked at me disgustedly but sympathetically. The other two girls just looked confused. The Prince gestured towards me and nodded as the two men grabbed my arms and hauled me up. He then poked his thumb at D'Arque, who proved to be a tougher catch. He had been nearly silent throughout our confrontation, but as Lumiere and a few other servants moved in to grab his arms, he pulled them out of the way and stood up to them.

Although D'Arque was not as tall as Lumiere, he was almost as tall as Gaston (though much thinner), and when standing toe to toe with the servant he proved ample competition.

"I would suggest you take your hands away from me," D'Arque snapped. "I wasn't afraid of losing an eye, so what makes me think I'll be afraid of you?"

The other servants commenced picking me up and throwing me out of the castle as D'Arque and Lumiere began to fist-fight. Eventually, Lumiere gained the upper-hand, and as I was still fighting against the servants outside the door I saw him chase D'Arque out with a lit candle. The girls rushed out a few moments later, being tailed by several others.

"Leave and do not come back!" snapped the Prince from inside the castle. The door WHOOPED shut, and we were left out in the ditches yet again. I sighed.

"Well," Anne said, sighing, "We tried."

"We can't give up that easily!" Dominique exclaimed, "We'll find some way… We'll do something. We'll just wait. We'll wait until Belle and her Prince least expect it. And then we'll get them back. But this time, we'll plan it out to the T. Let's go back to town."


	15. Chapter 15

We decided that the best place to meet when we got back to town would be D'Arque's house. Unfortunately, when we arrived there, there was a most unwelcome surprise waiting for us. A string of men was standing in front of the Maison des Lunes.

"Excuse me, sir," said one, "Are you the owner of this establishment?"

"Yes, indeed I am," replied D'Arque, "What is going on here?"

"We're sorry, sir, we are shutting down your asylum." D'Arque's eye went wide.

"What is the meaning of this?" he snapped, "You can't just walk in here and shut down a man's asylum! Who gives you the nerve?"

"The Prince gives us the nerve, sir. We have been sent in here by him. The Princess has informed him that your asylum is both unnecessary and barbaric."

"It's not barbaric!" D'Arque exclaimed, "And if you shut down the Maison, these people will have nowhere to go!"

"Well then," snapped one of the men, "I guess you'll just have to find them someplace to go, now won't you?" D'Arque began to sputter.

"This is insane!"

"Quite the irony, isn't it," shot back one of the men. D'Arque's face went bright red, and he looked about ready to strangle someone in his bare hands. One of the intruders picked up a rifle and bashed in one of the windows of the Maison des Lunes. "You're free to go!" he called inside. Several of the others ventured inside and began taking inmates out of the asylum as D'Arque tried desperately to fight off all of the men, and I attempted to help him. The girls seemed to be in shock.

The men did not leave until the asylum until all of its windows were smashed, the inside had been looted and the residents were running free on the streets.

As they were walking off, one of them smirked to D'Arque and sarcastically told him, as he pointed a finger at the asylum, "You might want to get that checked out."

D'Arque's mouth dropped and he looked furiously at me.

"Did that really just happen?" he fumed, "Did I really just have the place I have worked in for more than ten years ripped out from under me?"

"Well, come on, Monsieur," said Anne, "It was just an asylum."

"JUST AN ASYLUM!" screamed D'Arque, grabbing her by the strap of her dress and pulling her roughly towards him. "IT WAS MY ASYLUM!"

"We could fix it," I muttered.

"Yeah," chimed in Chanal, who just looked eager to get D'Arque away from Anne, "We could all chip in and fix it together. And reopen it. I'm sure we could get all those crazy people back."

We heard a man run by screaming, "IT'S IN THE BREAD! IT IS, I SWEAR IT!"

The girls exchanged glances with me.

"See what I mean?" Chanal declared.

"But it'll never be the same again," D'Arque said, sliding down on the ground. "Why did I ever get involved with you?"

"Remember how I said I'd be your… pro…protie…prota…?" I asked.

"Protégé," supplied D'Arque.

"Yeah, that. Well, I still will be. We'll make the asylum whole again. And it'll work. And we'll do it together. Maybe Gaston isn't with us anymore, but us put together, maybe we can be kind of like… Gaston's spirit living on."

"Haven't you realized!" yelled D'Arque, "That I do not CARE about your Gaston! I just want my asylum back!"

"But Gaston was…" began Chanal.

"Beautiful," finished Anne.

"And sexy. And strong," continued Dominique.

"And I'm telling you I DON'T CARE ABOUT GASTON! So unless you have a plan to get me my asylum back RIGHT NOW, go away before you cost be everything else I've earned in my life!" D'Arque snapped, getting up and opening the door to his house. "Watch out for the broken glass," he added sarcastically, slamming the door.

"Well," groaned Dominique, "THAT went well."

"What are we going to do?" wailed Anne.

"What would Gaston do?" Chanal asked.

"I don't know…" I said quietly, "I just don't know."


	16. Chapter 16

The next few days passed without any distinct feel to them, except for the listless drone of another boring day in the town. I'd never realized quite how each day was exactly like the next – in the past, I'd always had Gaston to make the day more eventful and interesting.

"Gaston is gone," Dominique said to me one day, as I passed her in the marketplace. She was sitting on a rock near the bookstore, looking depressed and lifeless.

"Where are Chanal and Anne?" I asked.

"We don't really talk anymore," she admitted, "All we ever had in common was Gaston."

"What if we found something new to have in common with them?" I asked, scratching my head and possibly coming up with the first smart idea I'd ever had in my entire life.

"Like what?" she asked.

"Like actually fixing D'Arque's asylum. And maybe making it a place that people aren't so afraid of going. I mean, I've been thinking…" I trailed off before quipping, "A dangerous pastime, I know."

"I guess it's better than moping around all the time," Dominique admitted, "But will D'Arque want anything to do with us after all of this?"

"There's only one way to find out."

And so we went to D'Arque's house yet again. He'd swept up the broken glass, but the asylum was empty and he had no desire to see us.

"You've brought me nothing but trouble," he snapped, "I've been robbed of my livelihood and nearly my life, so I would recommend you leave me in peace before Gaston receives a few new visitors."

I explained the idea that I'd had, about making the asylum more habitable (though obviously I didn't use that word.)

He threw us out, me literally.

We came back the next day. And the next, at which time Chanal and Anne joined us. And yet again the next, and so on. There was nothing else to live for, so we guided our days towards these meetings that revolved around pestering D'Arque. At last, one day he gave in.

"If it means you don't bug me every single day, SURE, ALRIGHT you can help build my asylum back up!"

We set to work. Despite our intentions, the asylum went very much back to D'Arque's usual heavy-handed tactics. But we added some extra refinishing to the Maison, along with a new room… a library.

Dedicated to Gaston's Belle. Whether she'd killed him or not, we'd never know. Why he loved her, we'd never know either. But the four of us – and D'Arque too, whether he really liked it or not. We had been strung together by Gaston since the beginning, and this final act of remembrance was the thing that finally brought it all full circle. We could never go back to living our lives as if Gaston had never existed, like many of the other villagers seemed to be able to. But then again, we didn't want to.

Five years later, we rode out to the castle again, in the middle of the night. But this time it wasn't for a confrontation. All of our fire to avenge Gaston had been spent, and now we just had this final thing to do. As Anne and Chanal kept watch to make sure none of the Prince's men came rushing in, Dominique and I dug a hole in the earth. She took a bag off her shoulder and rifled through it before picking up the magic mirror.

"Show me Belle," she said quietly. Turning the mirror towards the ground, she dropped it in the hole. I sifted the dirt over it before we rode off.

"Now Gaston has what he always wanted," Anne said, as we arrived back in town.

"What if that mirror could show us what we always wanted?" I asked, "What would you ask it for?"

"I would ask it to show me a Gaston that never met Belle," she replied bitterly. I let the subject rest. We would go to sleep, I knew, and let the darkness peel away to reveal another day of missing Gaston.

**The End**


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